Exodus 3:10–12
Moses doubts himself; God says, “I will be with you”
Study it word by word10So now, go, and I will send you to Pharaoh, and bring out my people, the sons of Israel, from Egypt.”
11Moses said to Elohim, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring out the sons of Israel from Egypt?”
12He said, “But I will be with you, and this will be the sign for you that I have sent you: when you have brought out the people from Egypt, you will serve Elohim on this mountain.”
In its context
8And I have come down to rescue them from the hand of Egypt and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.
9And now, look, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
…
13Moses said to Elohim, “Look, if I come to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘The Elohim of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?”
14Elohim said to Moses, “I will be who I will be.” And he said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel: ‘Ehyeh has sent me to you.’”
Its words in the original
- לְכָlecha· go, walk
Go, walk, depart; in the causative form, lead or bring.
- אֶשְׁלָחֲeshlaach· send, stretch out
Send; stretch out (the hand); let go, send away, set free.
- פַּרְעֹהparo· Pharaoh
Pharaoh: the title of the kings of Egypt, not a personal name.
- הוֹצֵאhotse· go out, bring out
Go out, come out. In the causative form, "make go out", "bring out", "lead out", "produce".
- עַמִּami· people
People: a human group joined by kinship, history and destiny. "My people", said by God, is Israel. Also the people as a crowd, or troops.
- בְנֵיvene· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- יִשְׂרָאֵלyisrael· Israel
Israel, the new name Jacob received from God, explained as "you have striven with God" (Genesis 32:28); then the name of the people that came from him and, after the division, of the northern kingdom.
- מִּצְרָיִםmitsrayim· Egypt, Mizraim
Mizraim, the Hebrew name of Egypt; also the Egyptians. As a person, a son of Ham, ancestor of the Egyptians.
- יֹּאמֶרyomer· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- מֹשֶׁהmoshe· Moses
Moses, the man God called to bring Israel out of Egypt and through whom he gave the Law. His name sounds like "draw out" (Exodus 2:10).
- אֱלֹהִיםelohim· Elohim, God, gods
The Hebrew word usually translated "God". This translation keeps "Elohim" when it speaks of the one true God, the Creator, the God of Israel. The word ends like a plural, but it does not mean several: for him the verb is singular ("Elohim created"); the plural form expresses greatness. The same word as a common noun names the "gods" of other peoples, and there it is a true plural, translated "gods". It is also used of mighty ones or judges.
- אֶהְיֶהehye· be, become, happen
Be, exist; also "become" or "happen". It is the verb of "there was", "it was" and "it came to pass".
- אוֹתot· sign
Sign: something visible that serves to show or recall something else (a mark, a warning, a proof). The heavenly bodies are signs that mark days, seasons and years; in other passages it is an extraordinary deed by which God shows something.
- תַּעַבְדוּtaavdu· work, serve
Work; serve. Till the ground, serve a person, or serve God (worship him). In the causative form, make someone serve, enslave.
- הָרhar· mountain, hill country
Mountain, hill; hill country.